Spy Program for Android “listens” to Conversations

Security forums discussing Android smartphones are actively debating new spyware software. It turns out that a highly sensitive motion sensor can function as a microphone. Accordingly, it is better not to install unfamiliar applications that require access to this sensor. Yes, this might prevent the program from working, but security comes first.

Spy Program for Android “listens” to Conversations

The issue of call eavesdropping on smartphones has been encountered for a long time. Previously, it involved applications that required microphone access. Limiting this access could eliminate the threat. However, the situation has slightly changed.

American researchers have studied the problem with a highly sensitive motion sensor. Scientists from the universities of Texas (A&M), New Jersey, Dayton, Rutgers, and Temple created the EarSpy application. This is a test program to demonstrate the ability to record conversations through the motion sensor.

For testing, smartphones from 2016-2019 were used. The choice fell on the OnePlus brand. Phones used were OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 9. The reason for choosing this brand is presumably for personal security. Samsung or Apple might sue for such actions and face hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The Chinese company cannot do anything because it risks losing the American market.

The results of the EarSpy program testing were very interesting:

• The caller’s gender is identified with an accuracy of up to 98%.
• The ability to determine the interlocutor’s identity by voice reached up to 91%.
• Decoding the conversation (in English) had an accuracy of up to 41%.

Considering the specifics of the English (American) language, where many words are pronounced with contractions, the low accuracy is understandable. But if we take more resource-rich languages with clear pronunciation of letters, the accuracy will increase significantly. For example, German, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Mongolian – clearly, speakers of these ancient languages have reasons to worry.